All He Ever Needed
by xhpduhx
Summary: He had died mere minutes after she realized, accepted and proclaimed her love for him. Oh cruel, cruel fate. Her sobs were heart-wrenching, and completely un-Slytherin-like. But she didn't care.  if you haven't read DH.. there be spoilers ahead.


'All He Ever Needed'

The wind blew around her, as she stood alone on the hill overlooking the rest of the large garden. The cool air dried the tears running down her face. She looked up to see his father walking back into the house, accompanied by one of her classmates, someone who she thought was a friend, someone who she once loved. She watched them disappear behind the doors, and remembered a time when she was a tad more innocent- oh alright- a time when she was so much more innocent than she was now, a time when she was young and naïve, and didn't need to pretend to be so sickeningly sweet to people on the outside.

"_Come on already, Pans!" the eleven year old shouted to his friend, pulling her by her hand over to the double doors that would allow them entry back into his home._

"_Vince! I'm trying!" Pansy replied, pushing herself against the hard winds that were pushing her and her friend back. "This isn't easy, you know!" _

_She heard him laugh. "Of course, I know!"_

_They finally reached the doors, and he threw them open, thrusting her forward and in before struggling to close them. Once he succeeded, he looked down at her as she sat staring up at him._

_She raised an eyebrow. "Would you be kind enough to help me up, now?" _

_He laughed again, and offered her his hand, pulling her up from the ground. _

"_Do not track mud all over this house, Vincent." Pansy turned, startled to see Mr. Crabbe towering over them, with an angry expression._

"_Yes father, I'm sorry." Vince turned, and pulled his shoes from his feet. Pansy did the same, and the two watched silently, waiting for the older man to say something else. Instead he sighed and walked away._

"_Well then" Pansy turned to her friend, and they both let out silent giggles. "So, when is Draco gonna get here?"_

"_I'm not sure. Come on." Vince grabbed her hand again, pulling her toward the foyer at the front of the house. _

_Pansy had such a huge crush on Draco Malfoy, he was so dreamy with those lovely silver eyes of his, and his angelic blonde hair. He was perfection personified; even at her young age she knew there was no one in the world more beautifully handsome than her 'Drakie'. Vince seemed to agree somewhat, except he didn't think he was 'dreamy'. Instead, he had once told Pansy that Draco was the leader, and the only one who fit that title in their little group. Greg was too dumb, and focused on food to be a good leader, Pansy spent too much time day dreaming to be good at it herself, and he just didn't want to be the leader. He had said it 'wasn't his style'. Pansy thought it was more like he didn't want to compete with Draco because he knew he'd regret it. Pansy thought Vince wouldn't make a good leader because he was too scared. _

She almost laughed to herself as she remembered thinking Vince was scared. He certainly had changed since then. But it wasn't a change she truly noticed until fifth year, and even then she wasn't completely convinced he was truly different.

"_Goodness, Vince! One would think it was me and you who were dating with the amount of time we spend together these days!" She laughed at the thought._

"_Well, you know," Vince seemed to inch his chair closer to hers at the table, causing her to tense slightly. "Is that such a funny idea?" He looked expectantly at her. _

"_Uhm, Vince, what are you doing?" She looked down at his hand, which he had lightly placed on her thigh. She felt suddenly nauseous. Why was Vince touching her? This was not a thing siblings did. And that's what he was to her: a brother. Nothing more! _

"_Well, I don't think it would be such a weird thing," she could feel his breath on her face as he was inching closer to her. _

"_Then you're mental!" she whisper screamed, so as not to attract Madame Pince's attention, shoving his hand off of her. _

_Vince instantly stiffened, and huffed angrily "What's the problem, Pansy? Why would that make me mental?"_

"_Because Vince!" She looked around the library to make sure no one was watching. "Just drop it, alright?"_

"_I will not drop it. Come on, Pans. I like you, always have. It's pretty obvious, I mean, even Draco-"_

"_Yes! Draco!" She sighed in relief at a way out of the conversation. "Thank you for bringing him up. Think about him, will you? Now drop it."_

"_Pans, you and I both know-"_

"_What I __**know**__, Vince, is that I love Draco. Not you. I'm sorry, you're like a brother to me."_

"_No."_

_She arched an eyebrow, her tone was dangerously low. "No?"_

"_You're not sorry."_

And at the time, she wasn't. She cared for Vince, but wasn't sorry for not feeling that way about him, in fact she wasn't even sorry she hurt his feelings. All she wanted was Draco, that's all she spent time thinking about. She always needed to impress him, draw his attention.

She glanced back at the tree above her, swaying in the wind, whistling a silent song of goodbye. A lone blue bird flew from the tree, making no chirp sounds, only flying off and disappearing in the silent distance. She tried not to cry again at how she treated him. How horrible she was, when he never was to her. She spent so much on trying to woo Draco, and even though he hated it, Vince would offer words of wisdom occasionally. Things like:

"_Pansy, go distract Draco. He needs it; look at how he's furrowing his brows."_

Or

"_Don't Pans, not right now. He needs to be left alone, you can tell by the way he's sitting, stiff as a board."_

And even once he said

"_He likes the lacey black ones, Pans, he told me so. Wear those."_

He usually kept her company, always had something funny to say, even if it was just around her that he let out his humorous side. She remembered once Blaise laughing in her face when she said Vince had a sense of humor. He had said that if Vince was funny, then Blaise's mother was the best wife in Wizarding Britain. She laughed it off in front of the suave Italian, but internally scoffed at herself for not sticking up for her friend. She could think back now, and wonder whether it was this kind of behavior which had pushed Vince to the edge. She couldn't be sure, but placing herself in his shoes she could see how it had upset him.

In sixth year she saw how Vince was becoming disenchanted with the rest of the group. He snapped at Greg a few times for being _"a moron"_, stood Pansy up on study sessions in the library, and he even almost shouted at Draco loud enough to let the entire Slytherin Common Room know that he and Greg were becoming first year girls to keep look out for Draco in the seventh floor corridor. He upped the amount of time telling Pansy she was wasting her time with Draco, to ditch him already. He infuriated her to no end that one night she stomped on his foot before storming up to her room. It was clear, he was no longer that scared little boy, afraid of standing up for himself, and against big bad Draco.

The summer between sixth and seventh year was probably the hardest time any of them had ever had. Draco had failed. Pansy hadn't been sure if he had taken the mark throughout sixth year because he had been so distant, he had hardly looked at her, let alone touch her all year. And the few times they were alone together, he didn't let her take off his shirt entirely. It hadn't bothered her too much, seeing as she never let him remove her panties. But now that they all knew for sure, and everyone knew he had failed, she couldn't avoid it. Everyone talked about it; it was in the _Daily Prophet_, her father groaned about it at the dinner table, and Vince was worst of all. He would bring it up every chance he got. It wasn't until the end of the summer that she had enough.

_They were all sitting in the Parkinson's Mansion, avoiding their parents who were celebrating the placing of imperiused Pius Thicknese in the Minister's seat. Greg was sitting in a corner of the drawing room, downing a bottle of fire whiskey with Graham Montague. Theo Nott and Marcus Flint were discussing the positive and negative aspects of the situation with the Ministry. Vince and Pansy were sitting on the couch in front of the roaring fireplace, observing. Draco and the elder Malfoys were absent from the celebration._

"_So, now it's the rule of the Dark Lord that is officially taking care of us, eh Pansy?" Vince asked, eyeing the fire._

"_I suppose it is." she replied, watching Graham forcefully take the bottle of alcohol from Greg._

_He moved closer to her. "You know, my father is on good terms with him right now."_

_She sighed. "That's great, Vince."_

"_Yeah. He reckons once the war is over, and Potter's dead, he'll be high in command."_

_Like hell.__ She thought. "Yeah?"_

"_Yeah. And if he doesn't make it to the end of the war, then-well…." He trailed off, still eyeing the fire._

"_Good riddance." Pansy muttered._

_He sighed. "Yeah." He looked at her, and she glanced back at him. "I'll be the heir to the Crabbe Estate."_

_Wow. Like there's so much there._

"_I could take care of you Pansy." He said, grasping her hand. "I know it's not too much, nothing as large as the Lestrange Vault-"_

"_Or the Malfoy's." murmured Pansy. _

"_Malf- Pansy! For fuck's sake, the Malfoys are done. You should know that by now!"_

"_That is not true-"_

"_Pansy. You'd ruin your name marrying into a family like that right now."_

"_A family like what? Rich? Powerful? In with the Dark Lord?"_

"_In with the- Pansy! Do you not pay any attention? The Malfoys are not in good with the Dark Lord! They've failed him! Lucius failed to retrieve something he needed, getting himself locked up in Azkaban along the way, and Draco failed to kill the old coot! Had to have Snape step in for him! Fuck! He took away Lucius' wand!" _

_The other occupants in the room had all turned to listen and watch the scene unfold. Vince had known, but Pansy was too angry to notice anything besides Vince's own angry face._

"_That's a lie! The Malfoys are a respectable family, highly capable-"_

"_Capable? They're prisoners in their own home! He won't let them leave!"_

"_That is __**not**__ true! Draco says they don't leave because they're enjoying the presence of the-"_

"_Pansy! Listen to yourself! No one in this room would believe such codswollop!"_

"_It is not codswollop, Vincent! And if you knew what was good for you, you'd stop trying to besmirch the name of Malfoy with your nonsense!"_

_They had both been standing for a while at this point, and Pansy had her finger pointed in Vince's face. He was red with fury, his fists clenched at his side. They stood there in silence, each never looking away from the other. Then Vince seemed to come up with a new tactic._

"_Why do you stick up for him, Pansy? He treats you like crap. He doesn't care about you."_

"_He does. He's just having a hard time is all-"_

"_Aren't we all? Pansy," he reached out and closed her hand between both of his, his tone considerably soft. "I would never- I would love you always, worship you, take care of you, treat you right. I can give you anything. __**He**__ can't anymore."_

_She took a deep breath before wrenching her hand away from him. _

"_He's a failure!" Vince shouted, his anger reemerging. "And I refuse to stand by and let him treat you like some whore-"_

_She didn't blink an eye before slapping him hard across the face. Her palm stung, but she dealt with it as Vince glared at her, the fire illuminating the red hand mark across his left cheek. _

"_Get out." She muttered through clenched teeth, her voice dangerously low. _

_He growled and exited the drawing room with an un-Slytherin-like display of emotion as he slammed the door. _

Now Pansy didn't stop to close the floodgates, as they gave way and fresh tears slid down her rough, dry face. She sobbed for the pain he must have felt, to have lost all respect from his friend, and love interest. She hated that she made him feel him like that, like he could do nothing to gain her acceptance and love in return. She hated that she had frustrated him so, that she hadn't just listened to him.

"_You need to go, Pansy. Don't look back."_

"_But Draco, I-"_

"_No 'buts'!" Vince was standing with his back to the Shrieking Shack. Draco and Greg next to him. He glared at her as he waited for his words to sink in. "Just go, Pansy. Come on Draco." He turned around, as did Draco and Greg, heading for the Shack._

_She didn't want to leave. She didn't want Draco to get hurt. Or Greg, or even Vince. She wanted to stay, if to do nothing else but watch their backs and make sure no curse or hex hit them. She needed to fight, because she'd be damned if she didn't get her own hands around the neck of at least one mudblood. How dare Vince think it was ok to just order her around, and expect her to listen. Screw him! So she waited in the dark. She listened to the hollering and loud cries of ready soldiers, waiting to be led into battle by their Lord. And once they departed upon the school she snuck into the crowd, making her way along with them. _

_Once there she saw so much anguish and pain, on the parts of people on both sides. She got so caught up and confused, that she started to become dizzy, not sure who was on her side, and who were the Blood Traitors and Mudbloods. She decided to hide, so as not to hurt any Death Eaters or get in their way. She snuck into the castle, hiding in a small alcove just off the sixth floor. She could hear the ominous sounds of battle from below, and far off in the castle walls, but when she heard footsteps fast approaching, she got scared. Only once they passed did she realize they were friend, and not foe, and they would need her assistance. _

_She jumped out behind them, and shouted Draco's name. The three spun around, Greg and Vince with their wands aimed straight at her head. They all breathed sighs of relief when they saw it was her. _

"_Damnit, Pansy. What are you doing here?" Draco was tense, angry, frustrated._

"_I-"_

"_I don't have time for this! Potter's getting away!" He turned to walk away, Greg doing the same. _

_Vince however, remained. He looked her straight in the eyes and said "Salazar, Pansy you've got to be the most dense, idiotic moron ever." Then he roughly pulled her against him and kissed her. _

_At that moment it all became so clear. His love and passion was portrayed in that single kiss, everything he ever felt for her was all put on display, nothing held back as though she had paid a very large amount to see it. She melted into the kiss, letting him take her in, letting him hold her, letting him have her. And in that moment she realized he had been right all along. His love for her was real. She never felt this way when Draco kissed her. Then it was all about Draco. But this, this kiss was meant for her. This kiss was to prove to her what she was worth to Vince, what she meant to him._

_As he pulled away, she smiled up at him and said the three words she knew he had waited an eternity to hear. "I love you."_

_He smiled broadly. "And that's all I ever needed."_

_He turned and ran down the corridor after Draco and Greg. _

_Later, when it was all over and she had spent the entirety of the battle hidden away on the sixth floor, she felt like a coward. She had only managed to curse about five people before she felt sick, and needed to find a hideaway. She was obviously no soldier, no Death Eater. But none of it mattered now that the Dark Lord was dead. That filthy Half-Blood Potter had killed him, and now what was left of his following was either being carted away to Azkaban, cowering and proclaiming their allegiance to the Light, or lying cold and dead on the hard stone floor. She searched among the faces in the crowd for her friends. She saw Greg and Draco standing off to the side by the elder Malfoys, and rushed to them. Her heart doing somersaults as she realized they were alright. They had all survived this, and they could live happily ever after if they avoided Azkaban. _

"_Draco!" She pulled him into a hug, letting go only to move onto Greg and do the same. When she had released the two of them, she noticed that their faces were quite dirty, Draco with a large burn on his neck, and Greg's clothes were quite singed. "Where's Vince? Does he look as horrible as you two?"_

_Draco merely shook his head, not meeting her eyes. Greg made no movement, staring straight off into space as though he'd never been addressed. Pansy didn't understand. Something in her stomach dropped, but she refused to acknowledge it. It couldn't be. She looked from one to the other, and then back to Draco, as he was the more likely to give her an answer. "Draco," she placed a hand on his arm, and he flinched away. _

"_Dead." He croaked. Small tears began to pour down his cheek. "He cast fiendfyre, but the fool didn't know- he- it was- it was-" he finally looked straight at Pansy and saw the fear in her eyes. That was enough to put him over the edge and he collapsed on the floor. Greg took no notice, but the elder Malfoys both lunged for him, and helped him stand up. Pansy herself was too shocked to do anything. _

He had died mere minutes after she realized, accepted and proclaimed her love for him. Oh cruel, cruel fate. Her sobs were heart-wrenching, and completely un-Slytherin-like. But she didn't care. She looked back down at the large stone which was all left of

_Vincent E. Crabbe. _

_Born April 1980 Deceased May 1998._

'_Enough to make one suffer,_

_Enough to let one live,_

_LOVE'_

She felt her legs giving out from under her, and would have fallen straight to the floor had it not been for the strong arms which suddenly engulfed her. She smelt the familiar cinnamon and spice, and hid her face away inside of Blaise's chest. He held her, whispered small words of comfort into her ear, and swayed with her until her crying completely stopped. She wiped her eyes, and her entire face, and he pointedly looked away while she did. When she was done, he took her face in his hands, and apologized.

"For what?" it was a small whisper, considering she had hurt her throat with all the crying, but he made no mention of it.

"It's the hardest thing to do, to say goodbye to the one you love." He smiled at her, a sad and perhaps lonely smile, but she knew it was meant to make her feel better, so she managed a similar one in return.

Over his shoulder, she saw Greg and Draco approaching. She didn't want this, not now. She had managed to avoid the both of them since that dreadful moment of finding out, and she didn't want to deal with them right now. She took a deep breath to collect herself, and began to walk away from Blaise, toward the approaching boys and the house. If she could just make it past them then she would be able to enter the house, find her parents, and hopefully leave. Fate had it in for her though, as Draco stood right in her path, and walked right up to her, trying to put his arms around her. She pushed them away and tried to walk around them.

"Pansy!" he had a confused expression on his face as he once again tried to hug her.

She stopped, and hit his arms away. The look of shock on his face would perhaps have been humorous in any other situation. She looked him straight in the eye. "He loved me. He told me all the time, and I ignored him for you. But he treated me so much better than you ever did. He wanted me to be happy, to be taken care of. You only ever wanted to be taken care of, yourself. He would have given it all to me. He was going to. I love him. I blame you."

She turned on her heel and started to run for the doors. She didn't care what his face looked like. She didn't care what he thought. She didn't care what he had to say. She didn't care what any of them had to say. She just wanted to be alone. She just wanted to be with Vince. One day she would. One day she would be reunited with him, and they could finally be together. But for now, she just needed to be alone.

* * *

A/N: So i've been working on this one for a while now.. it's my pride and joy. haha well... i like it anyway. what do you all think? :) reviews and criticisms welcome.


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